


Tell Me You Love Me

by candysams



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Season 7 Spoilers, based off my limited knowledge of s7 ep1, can be read as platonic or romantic, i guess??, so far - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 02:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15500553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candysams/pseuds/candysams
Summary: This body had tried to kill Keith. And yet, three words repeated like a mantra in Shiro’s head.“I love you.”“Why did you say that?”~~Shiro needs a little TLC to help reconcile his memories with that of his clone.





	Tell Me You Love Me

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of Sheith going back up to #2 on fandometrics :) lol jk I've been sitting on this for a while. Based off of what I know about what happened in s7 ep 1

            It was just the two of them, alone together in the Black Lion.

            Everyone else had already retired to their own lions to twiddle their thumbs until the lions were charged enough to begin the tedious journey home. Even Krolia had left them with a smirk, saying something about needing to take the strange space dog on a walk to scout the area.

            Shiro didn’t think Keith even knew he was awake yet. He was lying in the open healing pod, the closest thing the Black Lion had to a bed, thinking instead of resting. Keith was just barely in his line of sight, sitting on the floor by the foot of the pod and leaning against the wall. He was scrolling through a data pad balanced on his knee, most likely putting the final touches on the route they would take back to Earth. It was the same protocol the Garrison held, double-and-triple-checking everything up until it was time for launch.

            Shiro closed his eyes, but his mind wouldn’t let him sleep yet. He hadn’t been able to fall asleep since Keith had saved him from the brink of death for the second time that day, even though Allura assured them that the danger was over and his consciousness was safely inside his—his _clone’s_ —body. It felt exactly like his old body had, after going through the Arena a few times and losing his arm, but he knew it wasn’t the same. This body didn’t have a right arm, real or prosthetic.

            This body had tried to kill Keith.

            His mind was full of mixed memories, timelines clashing between his experiences in the astroplane and what had happened to his clone since it "escaped" from the Galra. For the most part, he approved of his clone’s actions as a part of the team. He hadn’t been a perfect carbon copy of Shiro’s personality, but he had taken good care of the team up until Haggar stole control.

            But Shiro had already known all that. He had been watching from the Black Lion’s consciousness, unable to do much to help them. He had approved of his clone taking Keith’s place as paladin, even if he hadn’t figured out where the clone had come from and why it was there. He had still known that his clone’s intentions were pure, even if he was compromised.

            In a way, Shiro had been compromised since the very beginning, even before Kerberos.

            _This body had tried to kill Keith_.

            Shiro knew he hadn’t been the one to hold the scorching hot blade to Keith’s face after baiting him to the cloning lab, but he could vividly picture the memory from his clone’s perspective. His limbs recalled the feeling of chasing Keith, tackling him, burning an ugly scar onto his face. If Shiro could wipe those scenes from his mind permanently, he would.

            Then he remembered Keith going feral, the whites of his eyes turning yellow, his teeth gritting together and sharpening to points, giving him a burst of Galra-like strength to get out of whatever sticky situation Shiro had got him in. The crazy look in his eyes faded each time, but it was burned in the back of Shiro’s retinas like he had been the cause of it. Just like the sound of Keith’s scream as a line was seared down his cheek echoed in Shiro’s mind. The memory of Keith breaking free from him with desperate yellow eyes, pleading with him to snap out of it; that could never be erased.

            This body had tried to kill Keith. And yet, three words repeated like a mantra in Shiro’s head.

            “ _I love you_.”

            “Why did you say that?” Shiro hadn’t realized he had spoken this thought out loud until Keith chuckled.

            “Good morning, sleepyhead.” Keith teased, powering down his data pad and slowly standing up. “I didn’t say anything. Need help up?”

            Shiro nodded, extending his remaining arm out for Keith to grab onto. Keith pulled him into a sitting position and Shiro swung his legs to the side, leaving them to dangle over the edge of the healing pod. He used his hand to pat the space to his left, inviting Keith to take it.

            “Thinking woke you up?” Keith guessed, taking the offered seat.

            “You could say that.” If Shiro had to guess, he would bet money that Keith hadn’t slept at all since arriving at the Castle of Lions with Romelle. Not that he could lecture Keith about it, since the younger man was just worried that Shiro would have another issue, that he would slip between his gloved fingers and disappear again.

            “What are you thinking about?” Keith asked, swinging his legs slightly. His legs were longer than Shiro remembered, although everything about Keith looked bigger. He was taller, his hair was longer, and his muscles—on display since stripping the paladin armor off his black jumpsuit while Shiro had been resting—were larger and more defined. Not that Shiro took note, or anything.

            “Just trying to piece everything together.” Shiro said. “I have my own memories, but I also have his memories with the team. Being rescued by you, doing crazy shows with the team,” Keith chuckled, which meant he had probably seen a recording of at least one of those shows in passing. Coran had probably sent it personally.

            “But?” Keith urged Shiro to continue.

            “But… I have the bad memories too. Like arguing with you before you left.” Shiro hesitantly mentioned. Keith’s eyes went soft, drawing up the tense line of Shiro’s body to his face.

            “It’s okay, Shiro.” Keith assured him. “The team was in trouble and I should have been there.”

            “I’m still sorry for yelling at you about it.” Shiro said. “We knew you were already on an important mission, we should have been ready to handle the issue without Voltron.” His gaze dropped into his lap, where his lone hand rested. “I knew how important learning about your family was to you, and you could only do that with the Blades. I think you made the right decision, Keith, even if it put my—my _clone_ in the Black Lion.”

            “You don’t have to apologize, but I appreciate it.” Keith smiled gently. He nudged Shiro’s shoulder, trying to get their gazes to meet, but Shiro continued to look pensively at his hand, preparing his next words.

            “I’m sorry,” he took in a deep breath, holding it for a count of three before releasing it, “about everything that happened when my clone was here. Questioning your leadership, driving you away from the team,” he swallowed, hard, “everything at the cloning lab. I—I hurt you, I almost killed you, god, Keith, I am so sorry.” Shiro tried to blink away his tears before they dripped down his face. He didn’t want Keith to feel sorry for him just because he was crying. He had to man up and tell Keith, even though it hurt.

            “Don’t apologize for any of that, Shiro.” Keith stopped the whirlwind of thoughts going through Shiro’s mind with a hand on his left shoulder, steady and comforting. Shiro's posture relaxed under the gentle weight. “That wasn’t you back there, it wasn’t even your clone. That was Haggar, first and foremost.” He gently shook Shiro’s shoulder until Shiro turned to look Keith in the eye. “You would never do something like that to me.”

            Shiro sighed, unable to hold Keith’s gaze for more than a few seconds. “But—but I was still there, I can remember everything. She told me to lure you away, but _I_ made the decision to take you to the lab. I knew you wouldn’t kill me,” he balled his left hand into a fist and pressed it into his thigh, focusing on the pressure, “but I tried to kill you, Keith.”

            “That wasn’t _you_ , Shiro. You’ve saved me more times than I can count.” Keith insisted. “When your clone—not you—brought me to that lab, he showed me that it wasn’t the real you fighting against me.” His right hand drifted down from Shiro’s shoulder to his only remaining hand, uncurling Shiro’s fingers and interlocking them with his own. “I thought I was going to die at that lab, but you—even with your mind stuck in the Black Lion, all odds against us—came to save me.”

            Shiro’s eyes widened as Keith awkwardly laced their fingers together, squeezing gently to feel how delicate they were between his own. “Why did you say that?” He repeated his earlier question, his voice impossibly small.

            “Say what?” Keith quietly asked, gazing at the side of Shiro’s face. Silence drifted over them for a few seconds until Shiro gathered up enough courage to answer.

            “You told me that you loved me.”

            Keith sucked in a breath when Shiro voiced it out loud. Then he squeezed Shiro’s hand between both of his own, trying to comfort Shiro. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you before Kerberos.” Shiro’s head snapped to the side, watery eyes meeting Keith’s. “I thought you were dead, and I regretted not telling you. I can’t remember if I ever told my dad before he died, but I thought I had lost another person before they knew how much I cared about them.” Keith sucked in a breath, his own eyes filling with tears. “I’ve never told anyone that I love them before, but I told you because it’s true and I wanted you to know.”

            A tear trickled down Shiro’s cheek, even as his eyes fluttered shut to stop it. Keith chuckled, his own voice wet with the start of tears, before wiping Shiro’s face with his thumb. “I— _Keith_ , I—” Shiro’s voice was shaky and his mind was racing with thoughts he couldn’t quite put together. He thought back to when he first met Keith, the spitfire troublemaker who used to hesitate before looking Shiro in the eye, even when he was being praised.

            Now he was staring Shiro down as if he could see into his soul. Shiro wondered if he actually could.

            “I know, Shiro. You don’t have to say it.” Keith stopped him before he could ramble out a nonsensical string of words. “Thank you for loving me, even though I’m stubborn and hot-tempered and doubt myself no matter how many times you tell me that patience yields focus. Thank you for loving me when no one else did.”

            That sent Shiro into a steady stream of tears, chest shaking with each unsteady breath. Keith let go of Shiro’s hand to wrap his arms around Shiro’s torso and pressing his forehead to Shiro’s cheek. Keith held him close, his own tears silently trickling down onto Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro sank into Keith’s chest, just like he had earlier when Allura had first dragged his consciousness into the clone’s body, feeling his steady heartbeat through Keith’s black jumpsuit.

            “As many times as it takes.” Keith murmured without prompting, breath tickling Shiro’s cheek. Shiro sniffled, weaseling his arm out from Keith’s hug to wipe his eyes.

            “I’m starting to think you’ll never get rid of me.” Shiro joked. Keith’s arms dropped from around him, although he left a comforting hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

            “Cry all you want, Shiro.” Keith said, wiping the tears from his own eyes. “Before Krolia comes back.” He teased.

            Suddenly, Shiro felt impulsive. He technically had a limited amount of time until Krolia returned, although he wouldn’t be surprised if Krolia was purposely hanging back with some of the others. She had given the two of them a mischievous look when he had woken up, although Keith had missed it in favor of looking at Shiro.

            Shiro stared at the scar on Keith’s face, slightly damp with tears, until Keith finally noticed through his own bleary eyes. Then Shiro leaned forward, his hand reaching around to rest on Keith’s lower back, steadying the younger man. He placed a gentle kiss at the widest part of the scar, just above Keith’s jawline.

            Keith’s cheek moved under Shiro’s lips, which Shiro recognized as a smile after he pulled back to see Keith’s slightly flustered expression. “I love you too.” Shiro whispered his words into Keith’s skin, breath tickling his ear.

            This body had tried to kill Keith, but this mind had always loved him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I've never had a fic come to me so quickly and easily, even while editing :3  
> Say hi to me on [tumblr](https://candysams.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/candysamstwit)! (or my [exclusively voltron/sheith twit](https://twitter.com/candysheith))


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